Urgent Action Victory! Four Youth Activists Released On Bail (Angola: UA 188/16)

Four Angolan youth activists who are part of the Benguela Revolutionary Movement (Movimento Revolucionário de Benguela) are out on bail. The youth activists have not been charged. Four Angolan youth activists who are part of the Benguela Revolutionary Movement (Movimento Revolucionário de Benguela) were released on bail from Comarca do Lobito prison in August and September 2016. Euclides Lucas was released on 8 August 2016 after paying bail and Avisto Botha was released on 19 August 2016. Valeriano Kussuma and Amaro Justino Quintas were both released on 2 September 2016. The four have not been charged yet. The youth activists were arrested on 4 August on allegations that they were involved in aggravated robbery, drug trafficking and violence against supporters of the ruling party Movimento Popular de Libertaçᾶo de Angola (MPLA). They deny these allegations. No evidence that they have committed these crimes has been presented to date. Euclides Lucas, Avisto Botha, Valeriano Kussuma and Amaro Justino Quintas are well known youth activists and members of the Benguela Revolutionary Movement. They had previously been arrested on 23 July on their way to a peaceful demonstration organized by the Benguela Revolutionary Movement to demand for effective measures against inflation in Angola. They were released that same evening without being charged. No further action is requested of the UA network. Many thanks to those who sent appeals.